It was announced earlier this month that Chris Weidman would be defending his middleweight title against Luke Rockhold at UFC 194 that will serve as the co-main event to Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor.
This will be Weidman’s fourth title defense and is coming off of an impressive 1st round TKO victory over Vitor Belfort. The All-American wrestler is undefeated at 13-0 and has beaten the greatest fighter of all time in Anderson Silva to claim the title. So is Weidman in the discussion to not only be the current pound-for-pound greatest, but also as the greatest of all time? Absolutely.
With all the media attention to the likes of Ronda Rousey, Conor McGregor, and even Jose Aldo, it is easy to forget how dominant and likeable Chris Weidman is. According to the official UFC rankings, the Hofstra product is ranked as the 2nd best pound-for-pound fighter but should be the undisputed number one.
Chris Weidman has finished Anderson Silva twice in addition to his victories over Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort in his title defenses. Before his fights with Silva, he already produced quality wins over Mark Munoz and Demian Maia. Weidman’s victories over quality opponents are impressive but his style of fighting is even more so.
Like Jon Jones, Chris Weidman knows how to deal with reach length and distance. The New York native has a 78-inch reach and has used his reach advantage over Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida effectively. Weidman knows when to move in an out when his opponents come in and uses his arm length to constantly keep distance whenever he anticipates a strike. He has tremendous power in his hands too. He has dropped Anderson Silva twice – the clean KO in the first fight, and he dropped Silva from the clinch in the first round of the rematch. He used his vicious ground and pound to take out Vitor Belfort.
Let’s not forget about Weidman’s wrestling too. Weidman has a 57% takedown success rate in the UFC. This is good for 21 takedowns in nine UFC fights. He tied a UFC career-high of five takedowns against Lyoto Machida who was known for his flawless takedown defense. On the flip side, Weidman is just as good at avoiding takedowns. He has yet to be taken down inside the Octagon.
The 31-year-old has a tough road ahead of him in the Middleweight Division with his upcoming fight against Luke Rockhold as well as Yoel Romero and Ronaldo Souza. If he can get through these next several opponents, it is tough to not put Chris Weidman on the top of everyone’s list of being the greatest fighter of all time with all of the big names that he has already beaten and staying undefeated.
With Jon Jones completely out of the picture, Weidman deservingly should take his place as the pound-for pound king and is on pace to become the greatest of all time.
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